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Mission Zero What is Mission Zero?
 Mission Zero is our commitment to the environment and our sustainability vision. It's our promise to completely eliminate the negative impact our company may have on the environment by 2020.
Heuga Home Flooring is the consumer brand of InterfaceFLOR, a worldwide leader in responsible sustainable manufacturing. With our brand Heuga we are focused on carpet tiles for the home. As a company we are committed to a shared vision and we are recognised as one of the world's most environmentally progressive companies. We consider the impact of every decision we make at all levels in the company to ensure that we are continually moving closer to our goal. This is not an easy task and we are genuinely committed to achieving this challenging goal.
See below for more information about Mission Zero: What's behind Mission Zero?
The Seven Fronts of Sustainability
What have we done so far?
Environmental Projects
Social Responsibility
Want to know more?
Climate-neutral Carpet Tiles for your Home
Don't just take our word for it...
What's behind Mission Zero? For the first 21 years of Interface's existence, we never gave serious thought to what we were taking from or doing to the Earth, except to be sure we were obeying all laws and regulations. But in August 1994, Ray Anderson, Chairman and CEO, read Paul Hawken's book, The Ecology of Commerce. A few weeks later, a professor from a local university gave him a copy of Daniel Quinn's book, Ishmael. These two books not only changed Anderson's life but also made him understand why it should change. Later that year, Interface committed to become the first name in industrial ecology worldwide, in substance, not just in words. Ray gave his global team a mission to convert Interface to a restorative enterprise; first by reaching sustainability in business practices, and then becoming truly restorative - a company returning more than it takes - by helping others reach sustainability.
We have been using a series of initiatives for over a decade to reduce our negative impact on the Earth in terms of environmental and social issues. Our efforts are driven by a concept developed within the company - the seven fronts of sustainability.
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The Seven Fronts of Sustainability
1. Eliminate waste in all forms
We define waste as any cost that does not produce value to our customers.
2. Benign emissions
Eliminating toxic substances from carpet tile products, vehicles and facilities, beyond what we have to do!
3. Renewable energy resources
Operating facilities that use only electricity generated from 100% renewable energy resources - solar, wind, landfill gas, biomass, geothermal, tidal and low impact/small scale hydroelectric or non-petroleum based hydrogen.
4. Closing the Loop
We are continually redesigning processes and products efficiently in order to reduce waste and emissions. Many of our carpet tiles products are manufactured using recycled content and innovative technologies are constantly being explored.
5. Resource efficient transportation
Transporting people and products efficiently to reduce waste and emissions.
6. Sensitising stakeholders
Creating a culture that integrates sustainability principles and improves people?s lives and livelihoods. We continuously sponsor educational events to educate our customers, communities and business partners on implementing responsible, sustainable practices.
7. Redesign commerce
Creating a new business model that demonstrates and supports the value of sustainability-based commerce. Back to top
What have we done so far? We know that promises aren't enough; it's tangible results that count. So here's a brief summary of some of the things we've achieved over the last 16 years.
All our European carpet tile manufacturing facilities run on electricity
generated from 100% renewable energy resources, including solar power, wind power, tidal and hydroelectric power.
82% reduction in waste sent to landfill since 1996 per unit of production
Water intake in manufacturing is down 82% since 1996 per unit of
production.
Total energy use down by 43% since 1996 per unit of production.
Non-renewable energy is down by 60% since 1996 per unit of
production.
Actual reduction of Interface GHG emissions by 35% from baseline 1996
30% of global energy is from renewable sources
40% of total raw materials are recycled or bio-based materials
Cumulative avoided waste costs totalling $438 million since 1995
99% of the products sold in Europe were manufactured in Europe
Achievements of this kind are only possible when the whole company believes in its mission and when a visionary who believes passionately in the journey to sustainability leads it.Back to top
Environmental Projects The above measures reflect our commitment to the environment in our manufacturing operations, but we recognise our environmental responsibility in everything that we do.
Here are just some of the projects we are involved in:
'Trees for Travel'
Where possible we try to avoid unnecessary journeys, but for unavoidable air travel we are involved in a project which 'offsets' the carbon dioxide emissions caused by travel. Trees absorb CO2 as they grow, and therefore by planting trees we are taking a positive step to counter global warming. Whenever an employee takes a flight for business, we calculate the carbon generated by the aircraft and plant trees to reclaim the carbon ? not just for our employee, but all passengers on the flight!
Company Car Scheme
We moved our company car scheme away from being solely based on value. It is now based on the entire life cycle of the vehicle with special attention to emission levels. This resulted in a 7% reduction in carbon emissions in the first year we launched the scheme!
Delivery vehicles
Our carpet tiles are delivered by road and we are continually working to minimise the impact of our delivery vehicles. Working with our supplier we developed state-of-the-art delivery vehicles, which have significantly reduced emissions.
Waste - reduce, reuse, recycle
We are committed to the elimination of all waste. Where we cannot completely eliminate waste we have schemes for the reuse or recycling of materials. For example, our polythene waste goes to make garden furniture and our cardboard waste goes to be used in an urban farm for animal bedding. The cardboard is then composted and sold.
Spreading the Word
 Our founder and CEO Ray Anderson initiated our mission towards becoming a fully sustainable company 11 years ago and he is personally committed to sharing his vision with the world. Having undertaken an average of 80 speeches a year in the last 11 years, Ray has promoted his revolutionary vision through sharing knowledge and best practice. In his book Mid Course to Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise - The Interface Model, Ray recalls his awakening and his resulting commitment to develop a business that puts back more than it takes and to do good to the Earth, not just no harm.
Company Resources
Where possible, we try to maximise the use of electronic resources to reduce the need for printed materials. Where we need to produce printed materials, we are selective in our purchase decisions to ensure that any materials that we do produce are printed on recycled materials.
Our vision is central to everything we do. All our employees are joined in working towards Mission Zero and by working together we are confident that we can achieve our goal!Back to top
Social Responsibility  Part of our sustainability vision is our commitment to society and we recognise that as a company it is our duty to put something back into local communities around the world.
Employees are encouraged to get involved in charitable projects and the company offers support to a wide range of charitable organisations.
On a Global Level
As a company, we raised $78,000 towards the Tsunami fund following the devastating events of 2005. Donations were split between the following four organisations: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Save the Children, UNICEF and Habitat for Humanity. In addition to the monetary donations, our business division in Thailand developed a programme for donating second quality carpet tiles to charitable organisations involved in the rebuilding programme following the disaster.
On a Community Level
Interface supported a volunteer programme in Ghana, West Africa providing kit and equipment for a school sports coaching scheme. The volunteers involved also worked on an AIDS education programme alongside the sports coaching, in schools in the Accra area.
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Want to know more? If you want to know more, please click on the links below to read more about how we?re working towards our sustainability vision 'Mission Zero'.
Interview with The Guardian Unlimited - an interview with Ray Anderson in the Guardian Unlimited following a speech at a conference on global ethics at Oxford University in September 2006.
Hear Ray Anderson speak
The man behind the vision, our CEO and founder Ray Anderson spoke at the Corporate Social Responsibility summit in Sydney, Australia in 2005. Click here to hear Ray Anderson speak.
The Corporation
Ray appeared in the award winning film The Corporation. The film examines the role of organisations in terms of corporate social responsibility. In the film, Ray is interviewed and portrayed as a 'hero amongst villains' when compared to a number of prominent individuals from a variety of industries.
Interface Sustainability Website
A website dedicated to our sustainability vision and progress so far.
Book Review
A review of Ray Anderson's influential book.Mid Course to Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise ? The Interface Model
Business Hero ? Ray Anderson
My Hero is a not for profit educational web project that celebrates the best of humanity. Amongst a number of high profile individuals from all walks of life, Ray Anderson is featured on this website as a Business Hero.
Green Books
An independent UK publishing company, this site is an online bookstore featuring a large collection of books on environmental and cultural issues including Anderson?s Mid Course to Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise ? The Interface Model which is available to buy from this site.
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Climate-neutral Carpet Tiles for your Home In line with Heuga's company commitment, Mission Zero, Country Classic and Country Contemporary wool carpet tiles are 'climate neutral'. These products are part of InterfaceFLOR's Cool Carpet® Concept, which zeros out all greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product.
What do we mean by climate neutral?
'Climate neutral' is a term that's been so widely used, and in so many contexts, that its meaning has become slightly obscured.
 | Here's what it means to us and what we do to make your Cool Carpet® purchase climate neutral: We carry out life cycle assessments (LCA) to measure the carbon footprint of our products. The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted throughout the life of the tile is calculated, in CO2 equivalents, to purchase verified carbon offsets that neutralise these emissions. |
Considering the full life cycle of our products
We take into account the emissions at all stages of the life cycle of a product. This includes the process of gathering raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use and maintenance, and final disposal or recycling.
Only around 10% of the total impact comes from the production at our factories, with the biggest impact (around 70%) relating to the gathering of raw materials.
For this reason we don't make corporate neutrality claims based on the 10% direct carbon footprint relating to our activities, as we think this would be misleading.
The projects we support and the principles followed
We work together with partners, who invest in a range of projects on our behalf. These projects include:
- Biomass power in India
- Cooking stoves in Cambodia
- Treadle pumps in India
- Constructing a wind turbine in India
Each project is certified according to the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and verified by independent third parties to monitor and confirm the reductions are made.
Strict procedures and principles are followed to ensure 'additionality' - meaning we never fund projects where the greenhouse gas reductions would have happened anyway - and to avoid double-counting of reductions.
In addition to reducing emissions we look to support projects which offer additional health and sustainable development benefits to local communities.
Reduction is our first priority
We see offsets as the last resort in our climate change strategy. Our main focus is on reducing our total energy use by improving the efficiency of our operations. We aim to use 100% renewable energy by 2020 and by purchasing renewable electricity from the grid and investing in on-site renewable energy generation, we're on course to meet this target. Progress is always ongoing and our sites around the world have introduced many initiatives - some small, some large - to reduce energy use, cut emissions, and change the way we do business.
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Don't just take our word for it... The 2008 and 2009 Globescan unprompted survey of 3000 independent sustainability experts around the world put Interface at number one, ahead of big companies such as Unilever, Toyota and The Body Shop.
Although that makes us feel good, we still have a long way to go until we reach Mission Zero. Back to top
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